5 ms·

Tesla Rescinds Job Offers to People Who'd Already Accepted Them

35 points by Vaslo 4y ago

smt88 4y ago
It's amazing to me how quickly Tesla (especially Musk) has been able to burn its reputation to the ground. I remember a few years ago, it was one of the most desirable cars and places to work. Now I talk to people who are trying to avoid sending any more money Musk's way or work for such an employee-hostile company. The quality and customer service issues have also started to leak out into mainstream consciousness too, which I think is ultimately going to kill them when they have to compete with Japanese and some American car companies at every price point.
- sschueller 4y ago
  A house of cards is a house of cards. Eventually it will collapse and it will be fast. Elon is also surprisingly silent, he hasn't tweeted in almost a week.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    No doubt his court-appointed minder is editing.
- HWR_14 4y ago
  > I remember a few years ago, it was one of the most desirable cars and places to work I don't remember that. Elon Musk has been employee-hostile for over a decade, and the build quality issues have been an open secret since the Model 3. I suppose the employees who expected to get rich off RSUs would like it, but given that Tesla was supposed to pay less than many other companies, it seems like people could just buy shares with the money they make elsewhere.
  - mandeepj 4y ago
    Same argument I heard about Tesla cars (What if I had bought Apple stock instead?) - https://conroy.org/apple-stock https://conroy.org/apple-stock
    - HWR_14 4y ago
      It's not at all related. I'm saying if you worked at Tesla primarily for the RSUs (because you believed in the company), you still may have done better working for a FAANG and taking your higher total comp and investing the difference in Tesla shares.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - cableshaft 4y ago
      Link was last updated 2012, not 2022 like I initially thought. I went down a weird rabbit hole thinking first that it wasn't impressive, then that it couldn't possibly be accurate, and wrote up a whole post, and then saw that it was last updated in 2012, so that's probably why all the figures don't make sense. Kind of like the 0.6 bitcoin I sold for $200 to help buy a Macbook back in...2014, I think. Assuming I held it until around, like $50k bitcoin last year, that would have been worth $30k (today it's worth $12,000).
- akomtu 4y ago
  He's burned the bridge with the far left, and has won some support from the right. Tesla has never been a good workplace (low pay, long hours) and their cars have been passable at best for the price they ask (low range, surveillance, poor service). Musk has always been a dick, and it's hardly a privilige to work for him - that hasn't changed. What's changed is how the leftist media talks about him: if a few years ago they praised his vision on the great green future, now they're shittalking about him at every opportunity. I'm really curious what the outcome of this battle will be: the richest man in the US vs the angry and powerful leftists.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    If leftists were powerful, Musk would be unknown.
  - smt88 4y ago
    What are some powerful leftist groups in the US? What people call far-left in the US is essentially centrist in much of Europe.
  - thrown321 4y ago
    Musk needs deregulation to keep autopilot on the market and Tesla on the road. He also knows and worked with Thiel who backs the new republican power base and probably has seen how much benefit that's brought Thiel. I imagine this also explains his interest in Twitter, a platform which would give him political influence. Interestingly, back in the early days of the automobile people there were no "car accidents" rather "car murders" since the streets were mostly horses and pedestrians. Jay walking became a crime because of intensive lobbying by automobile manufacturers. Deregulation has been a systematic effort by corporations to limit their liability for things that are not and should not be called accidents.
    - smt88 4y ago
      > Musk needs deregulation to keep autopilot on the market and Tesla on the road. Wait, what? Tesla is only still a company because of EV credits from Democrats. Several of his companies would still hugely benefit from Democratic tax credits for clean energy and batteries, too. He has plenty to gain from Democrats. I think his politics are more about Covid and pro-labor regulations than anything else. I don't think they're good business for him in the long-run, especially as he has started to turn off a lot of the people who should be enthusiastic EV customers.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
aeternum 4y ago
The vast majority of companies will now do this. Employees are doing the same thing, a few months ago it was surprisingly common for employees to accept but then decide not to join because they got a better offer. In a way, this is what we want, at will employment and a highly liquid labor market leads to more fairness.
- Dork1234 4y ago
  The risk for rescinding offers is drastically larger for the employee than the employer. An employee most likely would of left previous employer, which means they currently do not have health insurance in United States, could of sold a house / terminated lease, canceled daycare or after school program, transferred kids school. Many of these things you cannot undo once done, and put you back to the back of the line. I sure hope companies that do this can never hire another person again.
  - jfim 4y ago
    For people who are on a visa, it's even more problematic as they may have to leave the country on short notice until they get another job.
  - thrown321 4y ago
    Someone who has had their job offer rescinded has legal recourse. I would suggest anyone in this position contact an employment lawyer.
    - Dork1234 4y ago
      Given that is at-will employment in much the US I don't know how much recourse you can get, or how you would even calculate damages.
      - thrown321 4y ago
        There is already well established precedent so you don't have to know, the judge will figure it out for you.
ivraatiems 4y ago
As I mentioned when Coinbase did this, it's a huge dick move and it suggests a level of panic on the behalf of the company that makes them willing to risk the reputational damage. At least, that's what it'd ordinarily suggest - with Tesla, which like all his companies is operated as Elon Musk's personal punching bag, it could just be he's feeling grumpy about the economy and decided to pass the grump along. Either way, choosing to go to work at Tesla is no more a good idea than buying one of their cars, despite how awesome their technology is. They're not reliable and won't be so long as Musk and his people are in charge.
paulmendoza 4y ago
If a company is doing layoffs what do you expect them to do?

35 points by Vaslo 4y ago

It's amazing to me how quickly Tesla (especially Musk) has been able to burn its reputation to the ground. I remember a few years ago, it was one of the most desirable cars and places to work. Now I talk to people who are trying to avoid sending any more money Musk's way or work for such an employee-hostile company. The quality and customer service issues have also started to leak out into mainstream consciousness too, which I think is ultimately going to kill them when they have to compete with Japanese and some American car companies at every price point.

sschueller 4y ago
A house of cards is a house of cards. Eventually it will collapse and it will be fast. Elon is also surprisingly silent, he hasn't tweeted in almost a week.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  No doubt his court-appointed minder is editing.
HWR_14 4y ago
> I remember a few years ago, it was one of the most desirable cars and places to work I don't remember that. Elon Musk has been employee-hostile for over a decade, and the build quality issues have been an open secret since the Model 3. I suppose the employees who expected to get rich off RSUs would like it, but given that Tesla was supposed to pay less than many other companies, it seems like people could just buy shares with the money they make elsewhere.
- mandeepj 4y ago
  Same argument I heard about Tesla cars (What if I had bought Apple stock instead?) - https://conroy.org/apple-stock https://conroy.org/apple-stock
  - HWR_14 4y ago
    It's not at all related. I'm saying if you worked at Tesla primarily for the RSUs (because you believed in the company), you still may have done better working for a FAANG and taking your higher total comp and investing the difference in Tesla shares.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - cableshaft 4y ago
    Link was last updated 2012, not 2022 like I initially thought. I went down a weird rabbit hole thinking first that it wasn't impressive, then that it couldn't possibly be accurate, and wrote up a whole post, and then saw that it was last updated in 2012, so that's probably why all the figures don't make sense. Kind of like the 0.6 bitcoin I sold for $200 to help buy a Macbook back in...2014, I think. Assuming I held it until around, like $50k bitcoin last year, that would have been worth $30k (today it's worth $12,000).
akomtu 4y ago
He's burned the bridge with the far left, and has won some support from the right. Tesla has never been a good workplace (low pay, long hours) and their cars have been passable at best for the price they ask (low range, surveillance, poor service). Musk has always been a dick, and it's hardly a privilige to work for him - that hasn't changed. What's changed is how the leftist media talks about him: if a few years ago they praised his vision on the great green future, now they're shittalking about him at every opportunity. I'm really curious what the outcome of this battle will be: the richest man in the US vs the angry and powerful leftists.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  If leftists were powerful, Musk would be unknown.
- smt88 4y ago
  What are some powerful leftist groups in the US? What people call far-left in the US is essentially centrist in much of Europe.
- thrown321 4y ago
  Musk needs deregulation to keep autopilot on the market and Tesla on the road. He also knows and worked with Thiel who backs the new republican power base and probably has seen how much benefit that's brought Thiel. I imagine this also explains his interest in Twitter, a platform which would give him political influence. Interestingly, back in the early days of the automobile people there were no "car accidents" rather "car murders" since the streets were mostly horses and pedestrians. Jay walking became a crime because of intensive lobbying by automobile manufacturers. Deregulation has been a systematic effort by corporations to limit their liability for things that are not and should not be called accidents.
  - smt88 4y ago
    > Musk needs deregulation to keep autopilot on the market and Tesla on the road. Wait, what? Tesla is only still a company because of EV credits from Democrats. Several of his companies would still hugely benefit from Democratic tax credits for clean energy and batteries, too. He has plenty to gain from Democrats. I think his politics are more about Covid and pro-labor regulations than anything else. I don't think they're good business for him in the long-run, especially as he has started to turn off a lot of the people who should be enthusiastic EV customers.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

aeternum 4y ago

The vast majority of companies will now do this. Employees are doing the same thing, a few months ago it was surprisingly common for employees to accept but then decide not to join because they got a better offer. In a way, this is what we want, at will employment and a highly liquid labor market leads to more fairness.

Dork1234 4y ago
The risk for rescinding offers is drastically larger for the employee than the employer. An employee most likely would of left previous employer, which means they currently do not have health insurance in United States, could of sold a house / terminated lease, canceled daycare or after school program, transferred kids school. Many of these things you cannot undo once done, and put you back to the back of the line. I sure hope companies that do this can never hire another person again.
- jfim 4y ago
  For people who are on a visa, it's even more problematic as they may have to leave the country on short notice until they get another job.
- thrown321 4y ago
  Someone who has had their job offer rescinded has legal recourse. I would suggest anyone in this position contact an employment lawyer.
  - Dork1234 4y ago
    Given that is at-will employment in much the US I don't know how much recourse you can get, or how you would even calculate damages.
    - thrown321 4y ago
      There is already well established precedent so you don't have to know, the judge will figure it out for you.

ivraatiems 4y ago

As I mentioned when Coinbase did this, it's a huge dick move and it suggests a level of panic on the behalf of the company that makes them willing to risk the reputational damage. At least, that's what it'd ordinarily suggest - with Tesla, which like all his companies is operated as Elon Musk's personal punching bag, it could just be he's feeling grumpy about the economy and decided to pass the grump along. Either way, choosing to go to work at Tesla is no more a good idea than buying one of their cars, despite how awesome their technology is. They're not reliable and won't be so long as Musk and his people are in charge.

paulmendoza 4y ago

If a company is doing layoffs what do you expect them to do?